Oct. 30, 2010
Box Score
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford volleyball team upset Southern Conference North Division leader UNC Greensboro, 3-1, at the Pete Hanna Center Saturday afternoon in arguably one of the best offensive showcases for the Bulldogs this season. Samford improves to 6-6 in SoCon play and 12-14 on the season while UNCG falls to 18-8 overall and 6-5 in league play.
In front of a rowdy crowd of Bulldog fans, Samford took the first set, 25-20, and the second set, 25-11. UNC Greensboro came out of the 10-minutes break down two sets, looking for a way to get back in the match. The Spartans bested Samford in set three, 25-20, but the Bulldogs dominated set four, 25-10, and walked away with the upset.
"Our goals coming into this match were to win first contact, match them blocking at the net, defend aggressively when they are out of system, play tough and create an environment. We definitely did that today," Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said.
UNCG is not only the top-ranked team in the conference, it is one of the top three blocking teams in the league and boasts the SoCon's top blocker, Kayren Finney. Samford not only out-hit the Spartans with a season-high .400, it matched UNCG in blocking as well with six team blocks. The Bulldogs held the Spartans to a .198 team hitting percentage and the conference's top blocker to half a block on the day.
"Elizabeth Neisler was on fire today as was Hillary, being in a hitter position today instead of at setter," Schroeder said. "And for Palmer to come in as a last minute sub and hit .545 was incredible. But it was the entire team that put us in a good place today."
Neisler led the Bulldogs with 21 kills on 36 swings, only committing two errors, for a career-high hitting percentage of .528. She also posted a career-high two solo blocks along with a block assist and two errors. Hillary Fountain followed behind with an impressive career-high 13 kills while also hitting .545. She just missed a double-double, grabbing nine digs and seven assists.
Lauren Hutchinson tallied 12 kills on 28 attempts with zero errors. She posted a .429 hitting percentage along with four block assists and a dig. Taylor Palmer matched a career high with seven kills on 11 swings with one error for a .545 hitting percentage. Allie Bettinger also added seven kills in addition to 12 digs.
Casey Garvey dished out 49 assists for the second-straight match while posting a season-high 12 digs and career highs in kills and block assists with three in each category. Alexis Bauer led in digs with 21 while also posting two assists and two aces. Samantha Bland also added two assists and six digs.
Ariel Newman and Caley Redden led the Spartans with 11 kills each. Newman also added 13 digs, two solo blocks, and an assist while Redden posted eight digs, three assists, a solo block and a block assist. Olivia Humphries added seven hits and hit .312 while setter Ari Lysacek posted five kills and led the team in hitting with a .571 percentage. She also led in assists with 33 and added three digs. Kellie Orewiler led the back row with 15 digs.
Samford is back in action Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. when the Bulldogs will take on the Elon Phoenix. It's Halloween and it is Trick-Or-Treat with the Bulldogs. Come dressed in your best costume and get candy from Spike and some of Samford's student-athletes.
Samford 3, UNC Greensboro 1
UNCG opened the first set with an error to get Samford on the board but came right back with a kill to even the score. Neisler took the lead for Samford on a kill but Redden answered back to tie the game at two. Samford then pulled out to a four-point lead on a 6-3 run with kills by Hutchinson, Bettinger and Neisler and a block by Hutchinson and Garvey. The Spartans cut the lead to three and Samford moved back ahead by five but UNCG eventually chiseled away at the Bulldog lead and when on a 4-0 run to get within one point.
Samford called a timeout and extended the lead back out to five on kills by Neisler and Fountain. The Bulldogs had reached set point and UNCG called a timeout. The Spartans came back to hold Samford off for a point due to a Bulldog block error, but Samford sealed the deal with a kill by Neisler to win set one, 25-20.
Neisler got Samford on the board in set two with a kill but a service error by the Bulldogs quickly evened the score. Samford then went on an 8-3 run to take a five-point lead with the help of back-to-back blocks by Hutchinson and Garvey, four kills by Fountain and a kill by both Hutchinson and Garvey. UNCG's Redden cut it to a six-point lead with an attack error and Samford continued to apply pressure and built a dominating lead. The Bulldogs eventually took a 24-10 lead, and although the Spartans held Samford at set point again, the Bulldogs put set two away, 25-11, on a kill by Hutchinson.
The third set started like the previous two with one team scoring the first two points on a kill and an error. This time it was UNCG. The Spartans then built a four-point lead on a pair of four-point runs. Samford called a timeout but UNCG continued to press forward and eventually took a seven-point lead before the Bulldogs wanted another timeout. The Bulldogs fought to get back within five points on kills by Palmer, Fountain, Hutchinson and Neisler and a block by Hutchinson and Neisler. UNCG called a timeout but the Bulldogs cut the Spartan lead to three on kills by Neisler and Palmer. However, UNCG called another timeout and held Samford to only two more points in the set to go on to win set three, 25-20.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the fourth and final set on a kill by Palmer, an ace by Garvey and a kill by Fountain. The Spartans finally got on the board but Neisler answered right back with a block to keep the three-point lead for the Bulldogs. UNCG cut the lead to two but it was short-lived as Samford tacked on four straight kills by Hutchinson, Bettinger and Garvey to take a 10-4 lead. UNCG called a timeout and came back with a kill by Redden but Samford knocked down three more kills to push its lead out to eight. UNCG called another timeout but would only score four more points in the set as Samford went on to win the final set, 25-10.
